A whistle followed by a massive explosion was the true commencement of the fight. The one to throw the first punch was none other than Belial, he had been feeling impatient the entire time.

Two heavy gauntlets had appeared on his arms, they were made out of a powerful and sturdy material that could withstand the force behind his explosive attacks.

Dust and debris dissipated in the air and the crowd still cheered wildly even though they could hardly make out the figures of the five below.

When it finally cleared, much to Belial’s surprise--Erebus had taken the punch straight on. He had raised one hand up to stop it, the spikes on the knuckles of the gauntlets didn’t even scratch the man’s skin.

Seriously? Belial groaned inwardly. That punch was enough to hurt one of the other Princes and this guy wasn’t even injured. Perhaps he had fortified his skin or something.

That would be annoying.

“You have a good amount of strength,” Erebus remarked, removing his hand from Belial’s. “And how are your defenses?”

Before Belial could properly react, Erebus’ fist connected with his face and sent the demon propelling into the side of the arena.

Belial rolled on the ground, barely gathering his bearings again properly before Erebus lunged at him once more with the intent to deliver a kick to his stomach.

Lucifer appeared then, he swung his sword in an arc in order to get Erebus to back away before he could attack Belial again.

Erebus, as Lucifer thought, easily sidestepped the attack and took a few steps back. He could have taken it head on and not have been affected, but he decided to humor Lucifer.

“Ha-ha, you’re going to have to do better than this if you want to keep me entertained,” Erebus said as he nimbly dodged all of Lucifer’s and Belial’s attacks.

Even though you say that, your evasive abilities aren’t normal! Satan wanted to cry from the sidelines. In order to preserve their energy, Satan and Leviathan were sitting back until it looked like the others were being pressed too hard.

If they threw in everything at once, it wouldn’t be much of fight. They were also able to gauge Erebus’ abilities while observing and formulated a strategy to deal with him.

“Look at this, nya! He’s barely trying, Erebus, you’re such a hunk, nya~” an irritating voice filled the arena in a pitiful attempt to recreate Tear’s voice. “I’m going to b-burst with lo-ove, nya!” Mae cried out. “A--nyah-?” she yelped in surprise and the sound of skin meeting skin could be heard.

“Back off!” the real Tear screeched. “I would never say something like that!”

Erebus stopped dodging, both attacks landing but doing nothing other than dirtying his clothing. He glared up at the announcer’s booth. “Shut up,” he said, irritating palpable.

Belial took this as an opportunity to use more force than he had before. He dug his foot into the ground which cracked under the pressure and he swung his fist with immense force to collide with Erebus’ chin.

Erebus’ head snapped back, but he remained rooted in place. He cracked his jaw and smirked at the demon, clearly uninjured.

“Seriously?” Belial couldn’t help but say in exasperation.

Lucifer swooped down from above, his sword swinging down in an attempt to cut Erebus. The dragon raised a hand, the blade met with the flesh and a large boom sounded throughout; once again stirring up the dust that had settled.

Erebus’ hand wrapped tightly around the blade, the sharp metal didn’t even cut his skin. He flicked his wrist, throwing Lucifer who was still holding the blade. Lucifer slammed into Satan and Leviathan who hadn’t jumped out of the way fast enough.

Before Belial could redistance himself from Erebus, the dragon spun sharply and roundhouse kicked the Prince. His foot cracked against Belial’s jaw but the demon managed to only skid a few meters away.

“You guys are going to have to try harder,” Erebus remarked, rolling his shoulders. “Stop holding back, yeah?”

They glared at him, readying themselves to attack once more.

It wasn’t like they weren’t trying--and Erebus was restraining his strength, too!

“Uwah! Lord Erebus is so cool!” Weryn exploded, unable to contain his excitement. Erebus was redeeming himself in the young dragon’s eyes. “Dealing with multiple enemies so easily, he even told them to try harder.”

“Truly admirable,” Tear agreed, adoration pouring out of her body. “Take those children down!” she screamed.

The crowd roared its agreement.

“The crowd and the announcer are both biased,” Leviathan muttered, pulling out his own sword.

Well, that was only natural. The crowd was composed of Erebus’ servants, Stone and Magnus’ subordinates, the Leaders themselves... There was no one there who would root for the Prince’s except for Beta.

The sharp-eyed demon, as if he could feel his superiors expecting him to cheer for them, turned his head quickly away from their direction.

Lucifer shook his head, gripping the handle of his sword tightly. He knew that Erebus would be a difficult opponent, he knew that they wouldn’t win... But dammit!

It was embarrassing.

His eyes quickly scanned the crowd, searching for anyone that looked remotely like Laufeia.

Erebus was a beast. He was making Lucifer and Belial seem like a pair of lightweights when in reality no one had been able to stand against one of the Princes for this long, let alone two of them.

He was ashamed.

Lucifer felt a way he never had before--he wanted to give up. He watched Belial, Satan, and Leviathan attempt to land an attack on Erebus.

It was hopeless, he almost called out to them.

Erebus weaved between their attacks, only countering once in awhile and dealing massive damage whenever he did. His strength was explosive; it was hard to believe someone who looked as useless as Erebus did was such a skilled fighter.

He wasn’t at all concerned by those fighting him.

Was this child’s play to him?

It was scary.

Erebus swatted away Satan, the demon slamming into the force field that separated them from the crowd. Satan fell to the ground heaving, he had surely broken some ribs with that one.

They would heal within due time, but it didn’t make it any less painful.

Lucifer’s eyes flicked back to Belial and Leviathan, both of them were releasing a flurry of attacks yet not a single one landed. Sometimes Erebus would allow himself to be hit; he incurred no damage when he was.

Erebus foot planted into the ground while his other one swung out, connecting with Belial’s side and with a sickening crunch caused the demon to fly away.

Belial couldn’t help but gasp in pain.

This guy was a monster, Lucifer thought. Belial had the hardest and most fortified body out of them all because of his alignment with the earth element, yet he was still being tossed around like some sort of ragdoll.

Lucifer’s jaw set, his resolve setting in once more. It was unfair, all of this was unfair--but he still had to fight.

He had to stop being indecisive; he had never acted this way before until faced with an original dragon.

Lucifer launched himself at Erebus, throwing away every single concern and worry that he had.

He was Lucifer, one of the Four Princes of Hell! He wouldn’t hesitate against an opponent like this. He had always stood tall and courageous, his skill with the sword was undeniable.

This was just another fight.

Another battle to win.

Lucifer’s sword met with Erebus’ arm which had been raised in a split second to block the attack. Erebus’ cold eyes met with Lucifer, a small smirk forming on Erebus’ lips.

“That’s better,” he said, his forearm was not even shaking as Lucifer applied more and more pressure in an attempt to cut through his skin. “I like your determination. It makes this more enjoyable.”

Erebus’ free hand clenched into a fist, he swung it backwards and it Belial in the face when the demon tried to sneak up from behind.

Lucifer didn’t waste the opportunity of the split second of Erebus’ attention being distracted, he swung his sword again. This time, he aimed to sever Erebus’ arm off from the rest of his body.

His sharp blade was met with tough skin, the metal only cutting Erebus’ clothing.

Leviathan came, aiming to pierce Erebus through the stomach with his own sword. Erebus’ hand snapped down, grabbing the blade before it even connected with his skin.

“You’re like cockroaches,” Erebus responded, his voice calm and even as if he wasn’t being attacked. “That’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he elaborated.

The Princes didn’t respond, both of them still trying to break through Erebus’ defenses by applying more and more strength until their muscles were screaming.

Underneath their feet, the ground cracked and a crater was formed. None of them moved despite the rumbles and groans of the earth beneath their feet.

The roars of the crowd had softened, the commentators saying nothing. No one could bear to speak because of the intensity of the situation.

Power was surging off of the body of the two Princes; the auras that they normally kept restrained were no longer a concern of theirs and filled the air with a heavy pressure that the weaker beings could barely withstand.

Suddenly, both Leviathan and Lucifer lept back.

A fiery pyre of blue flame rose up from the ground, engulfing Erebus’ body. The heat of the fire could be felt even from through the barrier that had been erected to protect everyone.

「Tartarus’ Imprisonment 」.

It was Satan’s spell; he had used his magic that he rarely, if ever, activated. His usage of it truly showed how serious he was in this fight.

When the fire had finally ceased, Erebus, to no one’s surprise, stood there mostly uninjured. A small (miniscule) section of his exposed shoulder had been singed by the fire.

Of course, that wasn’t it. Just as the spell ended, another hit was delivered to Erebus.

Belial gritted his teeth and mustered up as much strength as possible, he pulled back his fist and snapped it forward; his hand smashed into Erebus’ face, causing the dragon’s nose to crack and break.

Blood dripped down from the wound that was quickly repairing itself. The crimson dripped down to the ground before Erebus hand caught it, the liquid pooled in his palm. “I’m...” Erebus spoke, surprise coating his voice. “Bleeding?”